


Berserk

by Shimmering_Sky



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-24 01:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7487340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shimmering_Sky/pseuds/Shimmering_Sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The power that the four boys had was that of destruction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yuto

**Author's Note:**

> This was first posted on fanfiction, but a guest reviewer on Yuri's chapter suggested that I should post it over here. So I made an account, and modified Yuto's chapter some so that it was even better for a different audience. I hope you enjoy it!

**** **_Yuto_ **

_ (Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. I will destroy everything.) _

…

In the ruins of a once-bright city, a group of twelve pre-teens and one very young teenager ran through an alley, their pursuers not far behind. Dressed in old clothes stitched up countless times, the dozen seemed the perfect picture of poverty. As though wealth mattered in this world anymore. It was either win against the enemy, or lose, and losing meant being sealed in a graveyard called a card.

Their pursuers, the enemy, had no such worries. They were dressed in only the most pristine blue uniforms, masks hiding their faces. Their Duel Disks, swords. Their monsters, fusions of mechanical hounds. They proceeded through the alley at an almost leisurely pace, smirks plastered on their faces. For they knew that another group was waiting in ambush at the other end of the alley—their prey would not escape.

The children froze when the second group of Obelisk Force blocked their only other way out of the alley. Running was no longer an option… they would fight. They  _ did _ outnumber the Fusion Duelists two to one. As though numbers made a difference.

In that group of children, their impromptu leader was the oldest amongst them: a barely-thirteen boy with spiky black hair, the front of it purple. His name was Yuto, and he did not want to fight anyone. But he would, if it meant keeping his friends safe.

The children fought hard, fought their absolute best, but one by one they lost.

Yuto himself could do nothing but watch, his cards only useful to protect himself. He stood there and watched his friends fall, the words “Stop it…” repeatedly falling from his lips.

“Stop it? We’ve only just begun…”

Until they turned their attention to the only one other than Yuto still left standing: his friend Ruri, a girl with long, purple hair—darker than Yuto’s—and lucky enough to have a hair clip in the shape of a feather from before the invasion. Her pink eyes had gone dull, obvious that she was going to lose soon.

Something snapped inside of Yuto. Ruri. He couldn’t lose Ruri. His heart burned as he roared, “ _ I SAID STOP IT!!! _ ” He took a step forward—

_ (I’ll destroy them!!!) _

—and the next thing he knew, Ruri was hugging him tightly, her head buried in his shoulder as she sobbed. The boy blinked a few times. Hadn’t they just been surrounded by Obelisk Force in an alley? But now he was sitting in one of the makeshift hospital beds (really just a worn-out cot), back in the Resistance’s refugee camp.

And when she stopped crying, Ruri pulled back, wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve, and looked right into Yuto’s eyes, still holding his shoulders. Her eyes were still puffy, and her voice was shaky when she said, “Yuto, you have to promise. Promise you won’t do that again.”

“I… I promise, Ruri,” he replied on a whim.

When she’d smiled and gone to get Shun to tell him Yuto was awake, he frowned slightly.  What  _ had _ he done?

…

Half a year passed. Heartland’s remaining citizens continued to struggle to survive the endless onslaught of the Fusion Dimension. Every day they lost another of their ranks, be it to Fusion or to disease or to something else entirely. But the Resistance would not give up—they would see their world back to the way it was before the invasion or die trying.

Throughout those six months, Yuto noticed a shift in how the others in the Resistance treated him. He acted like he didn’t notice, but people would give him  _ looks _ , like he was something to be feared or wary of, and would never stay near him for long. Even his two closest friends, the Kurosaki siblings, gave him those same looks—though he’d only caught Shun doing it once, and Ruri’s look was less fear and more worry about him.  _ Something _ had happened that day, and yet he still could not remember anything between Ruri almost losing and waking up in the refugee camp.

He had yet to ask about what happened, but that would all change today.

“Shun.”

The dark-green-haired teen stopped, turned, and looked at his friend. “Something wrong, Yuto?”

“Yeah, something is.”

Yuto explained how he had no idea what had happened half a year ago, when he and Ruri had gone to rescue a group of other kids trapped in the remains of a house on the opposite side of Heartland. That his last clear memory was stepping in to protect Ruri. That he knew  _ something _ had to have happened considering the way people treated him.

“Why are you asking  _ me _ about this?” Shun’s face looked as impassive as ever, though his voice had a bit of an edge to it.

“Well? Do you know anything?”

Shun turned around and started walking away. “You’re better off not knowing, Yuto. But… I’m not going to lie to you.” He stopped, crouching behind a piece of rubble. Peering over it, he saw a group of three Obelisk Force members wandering through the streets. “Fusion scum… Let’s deal with them first, then I’ll tell you.”

The two Xyz Duelists obtained a narrow victory over those three from Fusion, but it was a victory nonetheless, and Shun  _ had _ promised to spill the beans afterwards. Though in hindsight, Yuto had to agree with Shun’s earlier statement of being better off not knowing.

After  _ nearly killing _ the Obelisk Force that had him and Ruri cornered with  _ Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon _ , he’d continued on, ranting about destroying everything. And he did—buildings, plants, and other people alike. The only person spared from his rampage was Ruri herself, at least until four adults from the Resistance pinned him down until he passed out. All this Kurosaki Shun had heard from his younger sister, the only eyewitness for the entirety of the event.

Yuto took out his ace card and stared at it incredulously. He’d… He’d really used this card to do all of that? He’d really lashed out against his own comrades?

Then he gasped;  _ Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon _ was  _ glowing _ , a pale blue color flashing several times before remaining lit up. And that was all Yuto would remember after his throat tightened and heart pounded painfully; like someone had just reached into his chest and squeezed it with all their strength.

_ (Fusion’s here. I’ll tear him to shreds!) _

The sudden feeling of his face hitting concrete snapped him out of his delirium, and Yuto pushed himself back up. He’d tripped over a Duel Disk, and his heart twinged as he recognized it as belonging to one of their own. But that feeling went away almost immediately when he realized he was in a completely different part of Heartland, and could not remember getting there.

Another lapse of memory. Had he lost it again? …No, he couldn’t have, nothing had happened to be angry about, and wasn’t that the reason he’d lost it a year ago? That’s what he wanted to believe.

That was, until he noticed Shun trembling over next to a pile of rubble; hunched down over something, not quite touching whatever was on the ground. And Yuto could see what the object was—the feather-shaped hair clip he’d given to Ruri back before the world went to hell. His face paled, mouth stuck half-open in horror. She’d never just abandon that hair clip…

And then an even more horrifying thought ran through his head. Yuto turned and grabbed the Duel Disk he’d tripped over, turning it over to see the back of it.  _ Property of Kurosaki Ruri _ , with a drawing of a bird next to the words. Then… Ruri really had… He sank back down to his knees. “No… She’s… she can’t be…”

“We’ll find her,” Shun declared, holding the hair clip tightly in his right hand. That trembling before was not horror; it was barely-contained  _ anger _ . “We’ll find her, and we’ll make them pay!”

Yuto nodded in agreement, even though he had a feeling things wouldn’t turn out the way they wanted it to.

…

“The Dueling I believe in… is entertainment to make people happy and put smiles on their faces!” Yuya, the boy from the Standard Dimension that shared his face, declared with passion.

Yuto wanted so much to believe in that statement. Duel Monsters  _ was _ supposed to be a form of entertainment, not warfare. And yet the harsh face of reality was the opposite. The times of him Dueling for fun were over. Now he had to be strong—in order to get Ruri back, in order to protect what little remained of his world, in order to survive. Entertainment had no place in the matter at all.

This boy… has never seen war before. He couldn’t have—for to say that fighting back in a war that Yuto hadn’t even started was unforgivable? It was—

A flash of green light filled area, and when it dimmed… there was a white-wearing boy on a white motorcycle in its place. The boy took off his helmet, revealing blue hair with yellow bangs. But still, the same face as Yuto again. Yugo. The Pawn of Fusion. Fusion. He would win—for Ruri, and for Heartland.

_ Clear Wing Synchro Dragon _ . The white dragon with bright green wings that he’d seen in their Duel last time and had filled him with so much rage. He’d barely contained it then, and now he had the field set to bring out his own dragon. And yet that’s what had him so angry last time. Even now his chest burned as he tried keeping a hold of his power. He would not lose control again.

He had no choice. If he wanted to win, he needed  _ Dark Rebellion _ .

He just… had to… stay… in control… He  _ had _ to… he promised…

_ (Burn everything to ashes!) _

“Dueling filled your homeland with smiles! In Heartland!”

The black-and-purple-haired teen dropped to one knee. Though nothing appeared to have been damaged, he knew that he’d given into that power again. Was about to use it on the Pawn of Fusion out of rage. If Yuya hadn’t been here… he would have…

“I… end my turn.”

He’d failed. He’d failed, he’d failed, he’d failed. That promise he’d made to Ruri was broken, and he’d lost to the Synchro Duelist. His strength was fading now, and there was something that told him it was different than just losing consciousness. He felt… well, he supposed it felt like he was dying. But… there was still so much to do…

“Yuto! Stay with me! Are you okay?!”

The innocent boy from Standard knelt next to him, some sort of light glowing from his Duel Disk even though it was off. There was light all around them, though it was night and there were no nearby streetlamps. Even  _ Dark Rebellion _ was glowing…

_ (…to Pendulum. Give… Pendulum…) _

Yuto’s vision started to blur as he held up the card, trying to give it to Yuya. Maybe… just maybe…

“Duels with… smiles… with your power… Give it to the world… and everyone’s futures… Smiles…”

…

_ Cold. Dark. Empty. _

That was the sort of place Yuto found himself in the next time he opened his eyes. He saw nothing but a purple fog churning overhead, felt nothing but the chill that seeped into his very bones, heard nothing but the sound of his own ragged breaths and rapid heartbeat. Where… was he? The last thing he remembered… he’d failed to keep his promise, but he’d thrown Yuya out of the way of the Pawn of Fusion’s attack. He was almost certain that he had died then, entrusting  _ Dark Rebellion _ to the boy that shared his face. So then why was his heart still beating and why was he still breathing and why was it so cold and  _ where was he _ ?

He wandered through the darkness, completely and utterly alone. The chill grew worse over time— _ time _ ? He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, but his legs weren’t growing tired and his stomach had yet to beg for food. A complete and utter limbo—the only thing reminding himself that he was alive being his own heartbeat.

The darkness had no limits. Yuto was certain he’d been walking straight ahead for as long as he’d been awake, and had yet to find any sort of walls or an exit or  _ anything _ . The cold dug into his body no matter how much he tried to shelter himself with his clothes, and it just kept getting  _ worse _ .

Suddenly, somthing tugged at his heart. Warmth. He felt warmth.

_ “Fall into the pitch-black darkness.” _ It was a voice he’d never heard before.

_ Yuya _ . The boy with Yuto’s face appeared before him. Instinctively, Yuto reached out a hand to the other boy—and Yuya mirrored his action.

The warmth turned into a broiling heat, stabbing and clawling at his heart. Yuya disappeared from Yuto’s sight, and the dark-haired boy doubled over from the pain he was left with. The same feeling… from when he lost control.

Yuto saw a battlefield surrounded by bamboo trees, a rain starting to fall over the Action Field. He saw his opponent, a rough-looking teenaged boy with long, dark purple hair— _ the same color as Ruri’s _ . He saw a flash of lightning and heard its crash of thunder. He saw his dragon on the field, surrounded by violet electricity, charging at his opponent—

_ (I will end this… with my power… I will destroy everything!) _

The blazing pain in his chest  _ stopped _ . Immediately the freezing cold was back, the darkness was back, the feeling of being  _ alone _ crept back into his soul.

He still knew nothing of where he was and knew nothing of what just happened. He  _ hated _ the nothing.

But wandering through the frigid darkness was all he could do. There were—brief—periods of, relief, from the shadowy world he found himself in. As though briefly but  _ vividly _ remembering the start of the invasion— _ fire, cards, a relentless army of mechanical golems and dogs, cruel smiles, the hunting games _ —or seeing some new battlefield that he was to fight endlessly on could count as any sort of “relief”. And each time of “relief” brought back the pain of losing control and the lust for destruction.

_ (“I… will not forgive you!”) _

Yuto wasn’t sure which scared him more, the darkness or the pain.

He continued wandering because if he stopped the cold would overwhelm him. Day in and day out, he moved. No matter how much time passed, he never grew tired— _ stiff, he  _ did  _ grow stiff _ —and it was the only thing he could do in a place like this, just keep moving.

Until one day— _ what even  _ is _ a day? _ —he found himself bound in chains, unable to move. They had appeared out of nowhere, and no matter how much he struggled he could not free himself.

_ Another battlefield. _ An abandoned subway station. He had barely enough time to recognize the dragons— _ Dark Rebellion _ and  _ Odd-Eyes _ , chained up just like he was, crying to the sky;  _ Clear Wing _ and some abomination in a battle of their own, having stopped their fight to cry to the sky as well—before the pain was back, his eyes on fire.

_ (We have waited… for this time. WE WILL BECOME ONE!) _

Yuto blinked. He was back in the darkness… but everything had changed.

…

_ (The Pendulum swings again, never ceasing, ever drawing closer to destruction…) _

 


	2. Yugo

 

**_Yugo_ **

_ (Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. I will destroy everything.) _

…

“Why’d  _ I _ have to get stuck lugging this stuff around?” the boy asked no one in particular. There was a rather large box in his arms, his knees bent under the weight. With each step, the contents of the box shifted around, metal scraping against metal in a cacophony of sounds. Yugo absolutely  _ hated _ that noise, but if he and Rin were gonna finish their D-Wheel, they needed these parts. He just didn’t see why they had to be so  _ heavy _ . Or why Rin didn’t come to help carry the stuff back to their place.

The bluenette sighed, blowing his yellow bangs out of his eyes when they blocked out his vision. He just had to get back really fast; then he could rest his arms all he wanted to. These were the last parts they needed for the D-Wheel, after all! And after they had their D-Wheel, they’d enter the Friendship Cup, and they’d win, and they’d never have to worry about going hungry or if they’d have a roof over the head again, and all the City would know of Rin and Yugo—just like they knew of Jack Atlas.

He looked up at the lights of Tops, a determined smile replacing his exhaustion. “We’ll make it there soon.”

An outburst of laughter from nearby made the boy stop in his tracks. His path was blocked by several shady-looking guys, all brown-hair and all of them having yellow marks on their faces. They also all had the same outfit on; a black jacket with some sort of eye-shaped thing on the left shoulder.

One of the guys—the one laughing the most—slapped one of his friends on the shoulder. “You hear that, Kimizuki? Kid thinks he can make it to Tops just like Jack did.”

“He needs a D-Wheel for that, don’t he?”

And they all eyed the box in Yugo’s arms, like they were starving wolves, and the box, their prey.

“Shit…” Yugo took a step backwards. He couldn’t run with the box, and these guys clearly weren’t going to leave him alone if they thought he had D-Wheel parts—parts that he and Rin will have to go without food for a  _ week _ to afford. (But it would be worth it in the end; they just needed to make it to Tops and they’d have all the food they wanted.) And he wasn’t gonna hand the parts over just to save his skin.

But… could he fight off four grown men by himself?

“What am I thinking, of  _ course _ I can,” he muttered to himself. As long as he had  _ Clear Wing Synchro Dragon _ , there wasn’t a soul that could stand in his way. And since winning meant everything here in the City… “Oi, losers! You want the D-Wheel parts that bad? Over my dead body!”

The fourth member, a bit taller than the other three, smirked, cracking his knuckles. “That could be arranged…”

Yugo set the box down on the ground behind him, watching as the four closed in on him. He clenched his fists, a burning sensation filling his chest; he was ready to—

_ (They think they can kill me? I’ll kill  _ them _ instead!) _

—fight…

Wait.

What?

The blue-green-eyed boy blinked once, twice, three times. Then he looked around, rubbing the back of his head. Wasn’t he just (struggling) to carry the box of parts back to his and Rin’s place? But now it was on the ground, tipped on its side, some of its contents spilled out. And he was out of breath… for some reason…

But who cared about that reason right now! Those parts were gonna make their dreams come true, and now they were scattered in the dirt! They better not be damaged at all… He plopped to the ground next to the box, quickly grabbing up the parts that’d fallen out. But instead of getting immediately back up, he sat back, staring up at the sky. Nothing  _ looked _ broken, so now he couldn’t help but wonder why his head felt like fog. It didn’t  _ hurt _ , and nothing had been stolen, so clearly no one had tried  _ jumping _ him—something that was all too common in this part of town.

Eh. Maybe he just needed some more sleep. Yeah, that had to be it, he got dizzy because he was tired.

No point sitting around here all day though. The faster he got these parts home, the faster the D-Wheel would be finished, and the more time they’d have to practice before the next Friendship Cup. He went to stand up when his left hand brushed something metal still on the ground. When he found it to be a Duel Disk—still with cards in it—he narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t  _ his _ Duel Disk, and people don’t just leave these lying around in the middle of the street. And—what luck—it wasn’t just  _ one _ Duel Disk, there were  _ four _ of them just sitting on the ground.

“Oi! These belong to anyone?” he called, looking to the buildings on either side of the street. No one answered. He tried again, receiving the same response. And upon this, he shrugged, adding the four Duel Disks to the box. If no one claimed them, and they were in the middle of a street, then whoever they actually belonged to were extremely stupid.

Maybe he and Rin  _ wouldn’t _ have to go without food for a week after all. It depended on what cards the Duel Disks had with them, and whether or not they even functioned.

…

Yugo impatiently tapped his foot on the floor, his arms crossed as he leaned back in his chair. Rin’d gone out to get food for tomorrow, and he’d said he would wait until after she got back to eat what they had left for dinner. But she was taking  _ so long _ , and he was  _ hungry _ .

It occurred to him that he thought someone had been following Rin around lately, always disappearing before he could catch them. All those times he’d either been with her or nearby, but now she was all by herself—not the best idea here in Commons and especially not if she had a stalker. She really should have gotten back by now, too…

“Ah, what am I thinking, Rin’s definitely fine,” Yugo said, slinking back into his chair. “I just wish she’d hurry up.” He eyed their D-Wheel, that was sitting next to the doorway. The  _ Rin-Go _ , the machine that was going to carry them to victory in the next Friendship Cup. He sighed again. In a place like this, it  _ was _ better safe than sorry. So he wrote a quick note in case Rin returned after he’d left, and took the D-Wheel to go looking for her.

Twenty minutes later, he still had no luck.

“Damn… where is she?” Yugo muttered, looking around. “Rin!”

As if shouting her name was some sort of answer, he spotted a flash of light teal-green hair. Drawing his full attention, he saw that it really  _ was _ Rin… unconscious and folded over the arm of some creep in a black coat. So she  _ did _ have some sort of stalker. Yugo stopped, the stranger caught in the  _ Rin-Go’s _ headlights.

No  _ way _ this bastard was taking Rin from him.

…At least, that’s what Yugo thought until the stranger turned around, laughing. The stranger… he had Yugo’s face. That, that couldn’t be right.  _ Yugo _ had  _ Yugo’s _ face, not some creep trying to kidnap Rin! So then… why…?

The boy with Yugo’s face smirked, holding up a Spell Card. Yugo didn’t catch the name of it before a bright purple light filled the area. He instinctively shielded his eyes from it, lowering his arms once it was gone. Both Rin and the stranger… had vanished.

Frantic now, Yugo looked around the alley, crying out Rin’s name. But she was gone, he failed, he couldn’t keep her safe from her stalker. He clenched his fists and cursed loudly. If he’d only been stronger… if he’d only been faster…

Yugo turned, eyes wide. His Duel Disk was glowing a bright green even though he’d never turned it on, and for one reason or another  _ Clear Wing _ was floating above it, also glowing that bright green. “ _ Clear Wing _ …? Wh-Why is it…?” The light reflected in his eyes. Something… Something was tugging at his mind…

_ (Take the card… I have to take the card…) _

Another powerful light flashed in front of Yugo, though he could tell  _ Clear Wing _ was in his hands even though he didn’t remember grabbing the card. He’d just about had it with these lights, he just wanted to find Rin—

…Wait. Where was he?

The light was gone now, and he was not standing in an alley in Commons anymore, but instead in the middle of a plaza in a city that  _ somehow _ looked  _ worse off _ than Commons. And Commons was the place where you were lucky to get one meal a day and maybe have a roof over your head. At least people  _ attempted _ to fix up the buildings around the slums. This place looked like… like it’d been abandoned for years. Or maybe attacked by something.

He looked at  _ Clear Wing _ , still in his hand. Maybe he’d be able to find Rin here, thanks to his card. Yugo had no idea what was going on, but he just  _ had _ to find her no matter what. And he’d also make that creep pay for taking her from him.

That’s what he resigned himself to doing, looking around this place for the next he-had-no-idea-how-many minutes. And while he failed to find Rin… he found the guy that took her. He still had the cloak on and everything, though the hood was pulled down now.  _ Definitely _ Yugo’s face. Not only that, but the creep insisted on mispronouncing Yugo’s name, something he hated even more than being hungry.

_ (I’ll thrash this guy into oblivion!) _

…

Yugo tried. He  _ really _ tried. He’d followed  _ Clear Wing Synchro Dragon _ across dimensions repeatedly, hoping, wishing,  _ praying _ that he’d find Rin. Or the guy that took her, since their previous encounter was interrupted. But every time he tried, either the guy got away from him… or the girl he found wasn’t Rin but someone else entirely.

First it was Yuzu, hiding underneath some sort of glacier thing in the Standard Dimension. He’d been convinced that she was Rin, that his search was finally over—but then her bracelet shined and they were back in the City, and she quickly made it clear that she was  _ not _ Rin. She couldn’t be; she’d mispronounced Yugo’s name after all, just like that creep—er, Yuto, who  _ wasn’t _ the guy that had taken Rin. He’d been hunting the wrong guy—it was someone named  _ Yuri _ that he was actually looking for. And there was a fourth boy that had Yugo’s face as well, a boy named Yuya—Yuzu’s friend.

Yuzu wasn’t Rin, but he still wanted her around. She wasn’t Rin, but she was a lot like her and he wanted—no, he  _ needed _ someone to fill the void Rin left until he’d found her. So to keep Yuzu happy, he tried getting people to listen to her story about the dimensional war. Though no one listened, and by his first match in the Friendship Cup the thought had completely slipped his mind. He was too pumped up by the thought of  _ actually being in the Friendship Cup _ , and maybe Yuzu wasn’t Rin but she was still basically helping them live out their dream. They’d win, and then maybe Yugo would be able to find the actual Rin.

After Yuzu it was Selena, his opponent in the second round. He was so convinced that  _ she _ was Rin as well—ignoring the pain as she kept punching him in the face to keep him away. He couldn’t help it, they looked  _ so _ alike and he just really  _ really _ missed his Rin.

But after that Duel… he saw him. The  _ real _ bastard— _ Yuri _ . The chase lasted a while; he wasn’t really sure how long since he had to stop in the middle of his search because it felt like someone was running electricity through his head and heart—

_ (I activate the Spell Card  _ Catastrophe Draw _!) _

—but he  _ finally _ cornered the boy who had his face, the scum that had taken Rin away before his eyes. The way Yuri smiled, he  _ definitely _ was the one he was after. He’d smiled like that before, too. And he really got on Yugo’s nerves—mispronouncing Yugo  _ again _ and then laughing at him when he corrected it.

“Take me to where Rin is, now!” Yugo demanded, almost growling.

“Sure, but one condition,” Yuri replied, wagging his finger at Yugo. “In return, will you tell me where Hiragi Yuzu is?”

Yugo’s eyes widened as he gasped. That  _ monster _ Sergey Volkov had to crush Yuzu in the first match of the second round—literally. Slammed his much-larger D-Wheel into hers, sending her flying off the lane entirely and  _ through a building _ , upon which her D-Wheel  _ exploded _ . And Yugo was left with nothing but regret—he’d forced Yuzu into the tournament in the first place, like she really was Rin. No, he couldn’t tell Yuri where she was, because she’d lost her life in that Duel…

“Yuzu is…” He pointed a thumb at his chest. “Yuzu is right here!” Because while Yuzu was gone, she’d live on in his heart. Definitely.

But then Yuri had to go and ruin it— “Then, isn’t Rin also living on in your heart too? Go see her whenever you want.” And he ran away under the light of that  _ stupid _ Spell Card of his  _ again _ .

…He wouldn’t give up. This was, this was different. Maybe Yuzu was gone, but Rin was  _ definitely _ still alive somewhere. Until he found her—she would  _ not _ be living on in his heart, she wasn’t dead. So he kept looking, and looking, and looking. Until he found Yuri again, in some sort of old subway station, right about to fight some kid with light-blue hair. The other boy with Yugo’s face was off Dueling some other guy, though it didn’t look like he was doing any good. 

But—Selena, who he’d beaten, was there as well.  _ Not _ underground. You know, where the losers of the Friendship Cup are  _ supposed _ to be. Upon voicing this fact, it seemed to make Yuri have a change in heart—and now Yugo would  _ finally _ get the chance to set things right, beat Yuri to a pulp, and take Rin back. After so long…

He first-turned  _ Clear Wing Synchro Dragon _ , though something felt… different. An unsettling feeling wormed its way into Yugo’s gut, and his heart throbbed a little. But he had to keep his focus if he was going to crush Yuri. He  _ had _ to… for Rin, and for Yuzu, and maybe even for Selena.

But… Yuri, just like having Yugo’s face, had a dragon of his own as well.  _ Starve Venom Fusion Dragon _ , a purple monstrosity dripping with venom. And it was after that dragon was Summoned—the throbbing in Yugo’s chest turned to burning, increasing and increasing and increasing until—

_ (We have waited… for this time. WE WILL BECOME ONE!) _

—he knew no more.

…

_ (The Pendulum continues to swing, its path of destruction delayed for only a short time longer…) _

 


	3. Yuri

 

**_Yuri_ **

_ (Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. I will destroy everything.) _

…

If there was one thing Yuri hated above all else, it was his own dreams. …Well, that was not entirely true, he only hated a  _ certain _ dream of his that would recur on random nights and disappear almost completely when he woke.  _ Almost. _ He would remember the fleeting memory of a girl with purple hair and green eyes, and his heart would ache at the thought and his cheeks would be wet with tears.

That very fact was what drew Yuri’s hatred. He was the  _ best _ soldier Academia had, and the Professor’s right-hand man, despite having turned ten only a month ago. He struck down his foes without batting an eye, he found  _ entertainment _ in the suffering of others, he carded traitors with a cold smile on his face. His heart should not ache over a girl he did not even know—if she existed in the first place—and he  _ certainly _ should not be crying in his sleep over her.

It was a day he’d woken up from that horrible dream, and he shoved all thoughts of it as far away from his mind as he could. Today was the day that one of Academia’s top Duelists would be chosen to go into the Xyz Dimension far ahead of the invasion and scope it out for the Professor’s main target. And it was the violet-haired boy’s job to narrow the top twenty down to that one. He had to be completely focused—unnecessary sorrow had no place in his heart.

The boy removed a certain card from his Extra Deck and stared at it.  _ Starve Venom Fusion Dragon _ . The monster he used to spread terror, his tool of destruction. He’d had the card for as long as he could remember, and on days that he woke up crying, all he’d have to do was look at the card and the sadness would flee from his soul. He sighed, the dream still weighing on his mind, and returned the card to its holder. “I’m going soft, aren’t I?” he mused aloud.

_ (I am not soft. I must and will bring ruin to this world.) _

Yuri blinked, his ears ringing. Somehow he was at the battlefield within Academia, rather than within the confines of his own room. He did not remember walking here. For that matter, he didn’t remember beginning the Battle Royale against Academia’s top twenty students—now only eleven, the nine poor souls that lost to him getting carried away on stretchers.

_ What is…? _ Yuri looked up to his dragon, already on the field.  _ When did I…? _ His chest hurt—no, it burned. Something was causing him pain and he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here and when he found out who’d done this he would—

_ (These weaklings are mere  _ insects _ before my might!) _

—make them… pay…?

“What is the meaning of this?!” Yuri shouted, fighting against his bonds. He was in the infirmary, and yet he was bound to the bars of the bed. He-he was the highest ranking person in Academia bar the Professor himself. How  _ dare _ someone tie him to a bed like some—

“Yuri,” a voice said—the only voice that could ever make Yuri stop.

The boy with purple eyes whipped his head around, to find Akaba Leo standing next to his bed. He looked…  _ utterly _ disappointed. “P-Professor?” He couldn’t be disappointed in  _ Yuri _ , right? He hadn’t done anything.

“You told me you could  _ control _ your power. You cannot.”

“That’s not right, I  _ can _ contr—” Yuri suddenly fell silent. Broken images of some of his fellow students screaming in horror as  _ Starve Venom _ cut them down filled his mind. That…  _ That _ was what happened. His darkness had taken over. Yuri cursed that  _ stupid _ dream of his—on any other day, he would  _ not _ have lost control.  _ He _ was the stronger one,  _ not _ the darkness. “I… had that dream again. I haven’t been as focused today as I usually am.”

At this, the Professor narrowed his eyes. “What dream?”

That’s right. Yuri had never mentioned the dream before, for fear of revealing a weakness he shouldn’t have. Since he’d already mentioned it, he couldn’t take back his words. So he shared what little of the dream he could remember, and the next thing he knew he was waking up in his own bed with no recollection of any dreams or the talk he’d had with the man he would follow to the ends of the earth.

…

Yuri  _ loved _ it when the people he was supposed to capture or card ran away. He  _ loved _ it when they clung to some shred of hope that they could get away. When they ran, he could stamp out their hope all over again once he caught up—and he  _ always _ caught up. He’d always had unnaturally high endurance,  _ no one _ could out-run him.

He loved it even  _ more _ when, at the end of their cat-and-mouse game, his prey  _ fought back _ . He loved watching them foolishly gather what strength they still had to fight against him. He loved seeing that  _ light of hope _ in their eyes as they thought they could win. It made it all the more  _ fun _ to suck the light out and crush their hopes.

Which was why it made him absolutely  _ ecstatic _ when he received orders to go to the Xyz Dimension to bring back the target Dennis Macfield had been keeping an eye on—Kurosaki Ruri. A spunky girl Yuri’s age with purple hair as dark as the night sky and bright pink eyes.

He cornered her amongst the ruins of her hometown—a shame she couldn’t vault herself over the remains of the building that blocked her way, Yuri knew  _ he _ certainly could have. But, he supposed, the chase had to end eventually.

And the fight. The last-ditch scramble for freedom.  _ Oh _ , was Ruri so much better at fighting than running. It was a  _ marvelous _ sight to watch her struggle against his overwhelming might. She tried  _ so hard _ to win. Really, it was a shame that he was on a mission to capture her and strip her of her strength.

_ (I don’t want that, I want—I want to  _ kill _ her!) _

He forced the traitorous thoughts away—he had no intention of ever  _ killing _ someone. Oh, he would have so much fun  _ toying _ with them, maybe threaten to, but he’d never actually kill anyone. Besides, orders were orders, he would return Ruri unharmed to the Professor.

_ (“Professor” this, “Professor” that. I don’t have to listen to him. I am the  _ **END** _!) _

Yuri gritted his teeth, ordering his dragon to attack and end the Duel. These thoughts were getting out of control. But he  _ would _ control them.  _ He _ was the one in control.

_ (It would be so easy. Just the press of a button and the tear of a card…) _

“Shut up,” he muttered to himself as he threw the girl over his shoulder. He must be having a bad day, that was all. He’d go to bed early that night—he deserved it, for completing his mission.

…

It felt like no time at all before the Professor had Yuri go on another mission—this time, to the Synchro Dimension. Once again his target was a girl, Rin. Her face bore a  _ striking _ resemblance to Ruri’s but the hair and eyes—aqua-green and orange, respectively—were all wrong.

It would prove to be  _ much _ harder to catch Rin than it had been Ruri. Rin was hardly ever on her own, always by the side of a blue-haired boy in white that shared Yuri’s own face. Ruri had a boy like that—Yuto, Dennis had called him—but it had been  _ so _ easy to separate those two when the Resistance had its numbers spread so thin combating the Obelisk Force. Rin and her Yuri proved a difficult pair, despite the other boy being an absolute  _ idiot _ .

It would be  _ so _ easy to go in and destroy them both. But part of his orders had been to stay away from his doppelganger at all costs. Yuri didn’t agree with that decision, it was so inefficient to waste time when he could  _ easily _ defeat them both—

_ (I want to crush him, his power is  _ mine _!) _

—but he bided his time regardless, ever the loyal soldier. His chance would come soon enough, when Rin had gone to the market alone for once. That decision would be her downfall.

…

Rin was better at running than Ruri had been. The aqua-green-haired girl jumped fences, knocked over piles of garbage to slow him down, attempted to lose him by slipping into a lightless tunnel. But Yuri was nothing if not persistent, and even the slipperiest of mice could not escape once he set his eyes on them.

Her luck ran out when she found herself cornered at the end of an alley with no way to scale the buildings on every side of her. Yuri  _ delighted _ in seeing her terrified, yet missed the courage he’d seen in Ruri. For where Ruri lacked in running but excelled in combat, Rin was the exact opposite. The fight was  _ too _ easy compared to the challenge of catching her.

“Oh well, I’ve completed my mission,” Yuri mused aloud. He picked up his unconscious target and was  _ just  _ about to leave when the sound of one of those  _ D-Wheels _ caught up to them, and he was illuminated by its headlights. Yuri turned to see who the  _ unfortunate _ bystander was—and found himself staring at his own reflection. No, it was Rin’s Yuri—and he had no time for this.

_ (No, I should—I  _ must _ —stay! His power is  _ mine _!) _

He forced those thoughts back with a cold smile, fleeing under the light of  _ Violet Flash _ .

…

After receiving orders to chase down another girl in another dimension, Yuri wondered if there was a girl like them in his own world. Ruri, Rin, and now Hiragi Yuzu of Standard, her eyes blue and her hair pink. Her face, though, her face was the same. Just like she, too, had a Yuri as her closest friend. He wondered why he’d never met this supposed fourth girl when by all means they should be close. He wondered about it until he realized that there was no point in this train of thought—he was crueler than any of his so-called counterparts and he certainly had no room for friends.

Yuzu, just like Ruri, had fought with everything she had. When she recognized that would not work, she ran like Rin. For the  _ entire night _ she was able to elude his grasp amongst the realistic holograms of icebergs. But there was no escaping Yuri. None.

He’d found her. He was  _ just _ about to deal the final blow when a bizarre pink light filled his vision, erased his very being from this dimension and moved it somewhere else. He found himself back at Academia,  _ without _ his target, and for the first time he knew what failure felt like.

He  _ hated _ it.

_ (She can’t run from me forever. I’ll find her and I will leave nothing but cinders behind.) _

…

_ Selena. _

_ Selena. _

_ Selena. _

There  _ was _ a fourth girl all along, kept locked away within Academia all her days. Except… she escaped—first to Standard, then to Synchro, with the Professor’s son and his rag-tag army he called the Lancers.

It was easy enough to find her in the City—she was participating in a  _ tournament _ of all things, but in the madness that erupted when the Synchro Dimension’s own security force took over the City and the Obelisk Force arrived for the same purpose as Yuri, it was hard to keep  _ track _ of her. Especially since that  _ idiot _ version of him from Synchro was on his tail. It was different, being the one running away. But he wouldn’t let the other boy catch him, no matter what.

_ (But I could—and I could take my power from him.) _

Yuri found Selena next to helpless inside of an old subway station, propped up against a wall with no one to defend her but a child and a traitor. A fight was already going on within, between Barrett and a boy with red-and-green hair and Yuri’s face. The red-eyed boy was losing, despite having  _ two _ dragons on his field. Someone with his face losing so badly—Yuri felt  _ utterly _ disgraced witnessing this.

Along with Selena, though, he found a cyan-haired boy with green eyes—and a highly customized version of the jackets Obelisk Force wore. The traitor Shiun’in Sora, the boy that had been lucky enough to fulfil the role of infiltrating Standard ahead of any sort of invasion, just like Dennis had with the Xyz Dimension.

“The two of you have committed treason against the Professor, so I will be apprehending both of you,” Yuri spoke as he smiled at them. His mission was first and foremost to retrieve only Selena, but he would not pass up the chance to capture another traitor. However, it would be too easy to just capture them. He wanted to play a little game first—

“I found you, you smug bastard!”

Yuri rolled his eyes as his idiot Synchro counterpart smashed his D-Wheel through the window of the subway to get in—like he couldn’t just take a few extra seconds to get around to the actual entrance. He was  _ really _ getting on Yuri’s nerves, if the Professor hadn’t given him the order to not deal with his counterparts—

_ (I could be so much stronger if I just destroyed one of them…) _

—huh. Somehow, Selena had  _ lost _ to the idiot he’d been trying so hard to avoid. If she lost to  _ him _ , then even if she  _ could _ fight back it would have been no fun. And oh, how he wanted to have a little fun while he was here. Against his orders… he accepted the challenge from Yugo.

The idiot had a dragon of his own. A pathetic one that dared to enter Yuri’s territory. Just like when he saw the two dragons the Standard boy controlled, he felt  _ disgusted _ . They had no idea just what sort of power they controlled—but Yuri did. Yuri knew, and he wanted the power for himself. He would never have to fear about failing again if he had that power.

_ “Two beautiful flowers with a deadly alluring fragrance! Join together and create a new terror from the hell that lies beneath your petals! Fusion Summon! Come forth! Poison dragon with hungering fangs! Level 8! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!” _ he chanted as his dragon came forth.

…It was different, though. As soon as his dragon entered the fray, he felt… fear. Yuri did not  _ feel _ fear, he did not  _ fear _ anything for nothing was stronger than him.

His heart burned, but the rest of his body was cold. Cold and stiff. His eyes flashed…

_ (We have waited… for this time. WE WILL BECOME ONE!) _

…and then all he knew was darkness.

…

_ (The Pendulum swings ever more, edging closer and closer to the day it would bring forth the end…) _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuya's chapter is yet to come. Still, I hope you've all enjoyed this so far.


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